The general need to protect articles that are to be stored or transported in reusable containers is well known. This has often been attempted by providing a bulky rigid container having a padded or soft interior or, alternatively, by providing loose, separate packing materials to fill any void within the container. Unfortunately t:hese techniques have proven to be unsatisfactory for a number of reasons.
Most obviously, a bulky, rigid container having a soft lining is lacking in versatility. Specifically, such a container can only function in the intended fashion when the article or articles to be stored or transported therein fit snugly so that there is no movement or shifting of position as the container is moved. Clearly, this is only realistic for individual articles such as musical instruments and the like.
For other articles, a padded container is only advantageous if completely filled. Otherwise, the article or articles are free to shift about within the container which can cause damage, particularly where the articles are fragile and come into contact with one another. Even when filled, a padded container is known to require careful packing to maintain the separation of articles therein.
Furthermore, due to the cost of padded containers, they have not been widely adopted for such purposes. Thus, it has been necessary in most instances where articles are to be stored or transported to provide loose, separate packing materials in order to avoid shifting of the articles and potential damage thereto within the container. However, this technique of packing has proved to be undesirable for a number of reasons.
Perhaps most importantly, the loose, separate packing material is usually not reused but rather is discarded upon removing the articles from the container. It is simply not readily practicable to store any of the various types of loose packing such as styrofoam, foam rubber and the like which are commonly used today. In any event, for many applications, it would be desirable to have a fully versatile but integral form of packing that could be reused
For instance, this would be particularly desirable in instances where the volume of articles to be stored or transported is highly variable as in the case of luggage. For an application of this type, it is well known that, while the volume of a suitcase remains constant, the level of clothing and other articles to be carried therein differs greatly depending upon the requirements of the user. When the suitcase is not filled to capacity, there is considerable shifting of the contents during the normal movement that suitcases undergo.
As a result, the clothing that is carried in the suitcase is subject to considerable wrinkling. It is also the case that other articles, such as toiletries and the like, can eventually be damaged or even break within the suitcase causing damage to the clothing contained therein. For this reason, there has been a need for a fully integral but versatile form of packing.
Specifically, it has remained to provide a reusable device for holding an article in position in a container in an entirely satisfactory manner. This is particularly true in the case of suitcases, but also holds true for containers, generally, where the requirements may vary from time to time as to the volume or level of contents thereof and the degree of holding power required. Among the various attempts to deal with problems of this type are those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,215,778; 4,044,867; 3,587,794; 3,398,501; 2,907,580; 2,449,591 and 1,675,957.
The present invention is directed to overcoming the above stated problems and accomplishing the stated objects by providing a unique packing device.